I do not own Harry Potter, the Wizarding World, or any canon characters.

The Family that Heals

Chapter 9 – Runs in the Family

There was a palpable energy and excitement in the air.

It was a beautiful day outside. The sun was bright and cheery. The wind was brisk and comfortably cold, the sun keeping the true chill away. Clouds danced with each other as they formed new shapes as they gamboled across the sky. The grass was still green, rippling with the wind. The Black Lake's waves lapped against the shores with a comforting sound and even the Forbidden Forest looked more not suggested instead of truly foreboding.

The second year girls' dormitory had been active right when the sun came up. Dahlia, Hailey, Hadley, Alice, and Esther were up bright and early and were wearing their brand new Quidditch team jerseys. They were all smiles, bouncing from happiness and eagerness. Serena had woken up too and joined in on the fun while Bethany futilely tried to go back to sleep but eventually joined her friends in the good will.

The door flew open, kicked by an exuberant Megan. "You lot ready to win today?!" she shouted into the dorm.

"Yes!" the girls cried. "Go Gryffindor!"

Sandy appeared, her smile from ear to ear. "Then let's go get a good breakfast in before we own the pitch!"

"Oh Captain, I had an idea," Dahlia said as they walked down the staircase. "Daddy did something when he was a student for game days, it was started by Uncle Oliver."

"Breakfast of Champions!" Hailey and Hadley cried.

"You take a slice of bread and fill it with breakfast things and then fold it over," Dahlia explained.

"Sounds good to me and if it was good for Uncle Harry, it's good for us," Sandy said. "Let's do it."

A wave of Gryffindors came to the Great Hall with the team, everyone chatting and excited for the game to come. It was no secret that the majority of the team came from Quidditch families with members in the professional league. They knew that Quidditch should be terribly exciting now at the school. There was almost an even split in supporters in the Great Hall with nearly half wearing black and yellow to support the Hufflepuffs. The two Houses exchanged friendly jibes and wished each other well in the coming game.

"Does Uncle Harry still do this? Or did he before games when he played for Portree?" Serena asked as the team ate.

"Sometimes," Dahlia said as she munched on a folded sandwich stuffed with egg and bacon. She held it out and let Helena take a big bite from it too. "We do it when we play Quidditch at home a lot. Oh and they did it before the World Cup games too."

"Oh that means we have luck and tradition on our side," Esther said with a big smile.

"And we're going to have something even better on our side too," Dahlia said with an even bigger smile.

-0-0-0-

"You know, when the proposed modifications to the pitch came to me, I was a bit hesitant," Dumbledore said with a warm smile. "But now seeing it done, I am now struck at how…less festive our old games were. Not counting the alumni games of course. Though granted, that is where the modifications came from."

The school Quidditch pitch was more or less the same as it was when Harry and the Team were at the school. There were big stands all around with plenty of room for the students. A few places had higher seats for better views, usually reserved for visitors and other staff. When the alumni games became a regular occurrence, Harry proposed some modifications that were done. At either end of the pitch where the goals were, space was opened up and people could pitch awnings or tents or conjure their own seats. This space was more for the supporters of a side, usually in the form of family and close friends.

Along with some of the other changes to visitations and the like, now family members were encouraged to come on game days to watch and join in on the fun. The ones who had children playing on teams could obviously watch and cheer their children on while others could watch with their families and then take them out to Hogsmeade for a visit or a meal as long as the students were not on probation due to bad behavior or marks. The change had been very popular and it was common to have more guests on game days now.

"It's nice, isn't it?" Harry smiled.

"Very nice," Dumbledore agreed readily as he hugged Iris and Lucas back. "It adds to the fun, makes things more festive and warm, gives something everyone can look forward to, and builds the community more. Splendid idea."

"Oh uh, you might want to be careful, Sir," Harry warned when Dumbledore took a cup from Abby.

Dumbledore winked. "And prevent their fun and hard work?" He sipped from his cup and joined in the laughter when his beard turned bright red. He held it up and looked at it with interest. "Oh that is a nice shade and good spellwork."

"Hey, you're part Weasley now, Professor," George grinned.

"A fine family to be a part of," Dumbledore laughed.

The Gryffindor side of the posts had a lot of supporters waiting. Besides the families of the players, the extended families had come out too such as the Tonkses, the Greengrass-Davises, the Grangers, Luna, Mirabelle Ramos, Fleur Delacour, and others from Portree and close friends. The other Gryffindor team families were welcomed into the fold and there was a considerable presence on that side.

"This is a dream come true," Angelina gushed. "Our babies are playing together like we did!"

"It's the best!" Alicia said, hugging her and Katie at the same time.

"And it's only going to get bigger when you all are at school and playing too," Oliver said fondly, hugging Melanie and looking at the others.

"Oh are you all going to join the team too?" Jean asked.

"We are!" Abby and Alex said together.

"I'm going to try!" Heather Greengrass-Davis smiled.

"Me too!" Melanie said.

"Same!" Iris shouted.

"How about you, Lucky?" Fleur asked.

Lucas shook his head. "I like to fly and play with the others, but I'm not that interested in Quidditch," he said honestly.

"He loves to read and to think of cool inventions, like his uncles," Harry said proudly, picking up his son and hugging him, smiling when Lucas hugged him back as hard as he could. "With less of a focus on pranks."

"Thank goodness, we have enough troublemakers," Katie said, winking.

"Yeah, we don't need the competition," Fred laughed. He ruffled Lucas' hair. "You can be the awesome serious inventor of us."

"But not too serious," Tonks smiled, kissing Lucas on the cheek.

"Oh my gosh, did you make all the pompoms for the owls?" Samantha asked with a delighted smile.

Luna nodded, looking happily at all the snowy owls roosting together and they each held crimson and gold pompoms in their talons. "Just the thing to cheer the team on," Luna said. "With one more set for Helena and-oh here she comes!"

Helena swooped in, barking a greeting at everyone and nuzzled Harry first before joining her siblings and mother on their special roost tree and grabbed her pompoms.

"How's she feeling?" Harry asked.

Helena puffed her chest out and flapped her wings, barking confidently.

"That's our girl," Katie grinned.

-0-

"Hello and welcome everyone to the first Inter-House Quidditch game of the year! My name is Timothy Gapboat and I'm your announcer for the game!" A young man wearing a Ravenclaw tie sat in the announcer's box with the rest of the main staff, high in one of the ascending stands.

"Just like his dad," Tanya White said with a big laugh.

"He is good at it too," McGonagall smiled. "Does not need to be yelled at for making inappropriate comments."

"You liked them," Lee Jordan sniffed. "Don't deny."

"I never got yelled at," Lyla Bell sniffed too.

"It's a beautiful day for Quidditch and it's going to be a great game," Timothy said excitedly. "The sun's out, the wind's fresh, and the players are hotter than hot. What more can you ask for?"

"He listens to his dad," Angelina laughed. "Go Timmy Gapboat!" she cheered loudly and the others joined her in cheering.

Timothy blushed but smiled and waved back to them happily. "Introducing the Hufflepuff team! Your Chasers are Steven Finch-Fletchley, Fredreick Patterson, and Robert Diggory! Your Beaters are Danielle Bobbs and Hank Abbot! Your Keeper and Captain is Kevin Deems! Your Seeker is Lisa Oswald!" The Hufflepuffs and their families clapped and cheered as the team flew up into the air, taking a lap around the pitch and waving to their friends and loved ones.

"Introducing the Gryffindors! Your Chasers are Dahlia Potter, Hailey Weasley, and Hadley Wood! Your Beaters are Captain Sandy White and Leonard Green! Your Keeper is Alice Chiang! Your Seeker is Megan Innis!" The Gryffindors roared as their team flew into the air and did their lap, flying around each other with barely restrained energy.

The family section exploded. Everyone cheered loudly, waving flags and jumping up and down. Their children hovered over them for a moment, their smiles easily seen from anywhere on the pitch, squealing and shrieking with delight as they waved to their loved ones before flying off to starting positions.

"That's a damn good-looking team!" Tanya shouted with satisfaction and delight. She waved and blew kisses to her other daughter who was not the starting Keeper for the game and waved back and cheered.

"They're going to own the Inter-House League like we own the main!" Shelia Innis shouted.

"It really is a Pride of Portree team as well as a Gryffindor team," Felicity Chiang laughed. Alice was her daughter and her brother was Nathan, the other starting Beater on Portree.

"Here comes Madam Hooch to start the game," Timothy said. "She's opening the box. There go the Bludgers, that's the Snitch. The Quaffle is up and there's the whistle blast! Here we go everyone!"

As soon as the Quaffle reached the zenith of the initial rise, the teams exploded into action. Hadley was first, leaning down on her broom and flying into the thick of it without flinching. She flew right past Patterson and punched the Quaffle as hard as she could, ignoring the near-miss from Finch-Fletchley. Hailey had flown into the scrimmage with Hadley to add pressure but Dahlia had flown past it altogether. She neatly caught the ball as it flew out and dove low to the ground and flew on with Hadley and Hailey following close behind.

"Potter has the Quaffle and she's flying evasively," Timothy announced. "Low on the ground is good to avoid people from below of course, but hard to dodge Bludgers from above but Weasley and Wood are screening for her. Awesome team work! Nice shot by Bobbs but it was a miss and Potter loops around Diggory! She's making a scoring run and shoots and-no it was a pass to Wood! Wood shoots and-wait no another pass to Weasley! Weasley shoots and blocked by Deems and Potter catches the rebound and scores!"

Angelina, Alicia, and Katie jumped up and down, cheering and shouting with everyone joining in. Dahlia whooped and high-fived her best friends and soul sisters and they zoomed off together, waving and punching the air.

"They swarmed Deems and kept him confused from all sides!" Timothy said admiringly. "Shot fakes into passes kept him moving and while he did a good job at blocking Weasley's shot, Potter was in perfect position to recover and shoot on the opposite hoop. What a play!"

"That's my girls!" Harry shouted, prouder than proud.

"Keep it up?" Dahlia asked, shouting over the crowd.

"Keep it up!" Sandy said, making a thumbs-up hand gesture. "Swarm them, keep them guessing!"

"Aye-aye Captain!" the Chasers shouted.

"Diggory has possession," Timothy said. "He's flying fast and Finch-Fletchley is flying in front to screen. Pass to Patterson, back to Finch-Fletchley, to Diggory. Ooh! A good shot by Green ruins a scoring run and another shot by White disrupts a reprisal from Bobbs. Diggory makes another run, shoots, blocked by Chiang! She passes to Wood but Wood is hit by the Bludger and drops the Quaffle! Patterson takes aim and-deflected by Innis! She hits the ball with her broom tail and Wood has it again and there she goes!"

"Go baby!" Shelia shouted, jumping up and down. "That's a Harry trick done by my daughter!"

"She did it perfectly!" Harry laughed. "Go Meggy!"

"The Chasers are assuming the Arrowhead formation, passing it back and forth but staying in formation, disrupting intercept runs! A Bludger from Abbot breaks them up but they're back together in no time at all! They're making another run on the Hufflepuff goals and-look at that! Innis flies distraction and causes the Hufflepuff Chasers to break off and Weasley shoots-no another pass to Wood who SCORES!"

Alicia cheered and glowered as Hadley did a backwards loop dive to celebrate. "No grandstanding! Flaunt later! Not now!" she shouted.

"You have no room to say that," Katie snorted.

The game continued with both teams giving it their all before Deems called for a time out with the score of 100 to 50 in Gryffindor's favor. The players flew to earth for a quick break and the crowd and watchers chatted and waited for the game to resume. Harry felt someone grab him by the shoulder but he was not alarmed as he recognized the person. "Hey Ced!"

"Hey Harry!" Cedric Diggory hugged him around the shoulders before putting him in a playful headlock. "Can you tell those girls to take it easy some?!" He hurriedly let go when he was buzzed by a parliament of snowy owls, all seven of them flying at him and clacking their beaks at him angrily.

"I told you not to do that," Cho Diggory, said wryly, giving Hedwig a respectful nod. She made no attempt to interfere as Cedric spun in a circle, swarmed by vengeful owls. She smiled warmly at Harry. "I also know better than to ask that."

"I could ask them, but they respect the game too much to do it," Harry laughed, hugging her fondly.

"As they should," Cho laughed. "Still, it's doing wonders for my other kids. They're watching and they swear to give them a run for their money next year when they can try out for the school team. And it's forcing Robbie to up his game."

"Poor thing, avoided Seeking because of you two, and then humbled by the bunnies," Katie laughed.

"The irony isn't lost on him," Cho smiled. "I love my boy but he's been a bit lazy. He can't afford it anymore though!"

"How we feeling?" Sandy asked. She nodded at their chorus of goods. "Let's swap out Alice for Esther for a bit. Anyone else need a breather? No? Good. Let's keep up the good work and finish strong. Go Gryffindor!"

The game continued with both sides playing hard. Bludgers flew swiftly and the Quaffle exchanged sides back and forth. Both teams played well and while the Hufflepuff team rallied, they were unable to overtake the Gryffindor team.

Megan, who was pacing Oswald, suddenly broke off and dove at an angle, leaning down over the broom. Startled, Oswald followed her after a moment of hesitation, trying to catch up.

"I think Innis is running on the Snitch!" Timothy shouted and everyone turned to watch. "She's diving fast and Oswald is trying to catch up. Oh what a shot by Bobbs! The Bludger made Innis veer and Oswald is a lot closer now. Both are flying with purpose and I think they both have eyes on the Snitch! It'll be close everyone!"

Oswald pulled a head just a little more past Megan, eyes staring at the dancing golden Snitch that was flying ahead of them. As she reached out for it, she felt a presence on her empty side and gasped when she realized Dahlia was there. Dahlia was pacing both her and Megan and the two Gryffindor players flew closer to each other, sandwiching Oswald between them. Oswald, feeling the pressure, dove beneath to escape them and Dahlia corkscrewed over Megan, leaving her clear to grab the Snitch.

"Innis caught the Snitch!" Timothy shouted loudly as the pitch exploded with cheers. "What a catch and what a play by Potter! Potter must have seen the Snitch too and was able to fly fast enough to match Innis! They forced Oswald out of the way and Potter flew around Innis, leaving her free to catch the Snitch. Gryffindor win! 300 to 100! What a game!"

The families at the Gryffindor side of the pitch made more noise than the entire pitch combined. The families shouted and applauded and cheered wildly for their children, filling the air with happy sounds. The Gryffindor team flew into each other, hugging and shouting as they flew to earth, celebrating their win. After thanking the Hufflepuff team for the good game, the girls dashed for the family camp, jumping on them and squealing happily.

"That's my girls!" Angelina shouted and managed to lift all three Chasers in her giant hug, hauling them into the air as they shrieked happily.

"Perfect distraction play," Harry praised as Megan hugged him.

"We're going to own the league!" Sandy laughed, dancing in a circle with her mother.

"You can tell who's on the other teams," Oliver chuckled, pointing at the students in the stands.

"All the ones that look like they're sucking on something sour," George grinned.

"They have to deal with the best Chaser team since we played," Alicia said, her words incredibly smug and self-assured.

Katie sighed happily as Harry was buried underneath the jubilant girls on the team and was followed closely behind by the other children. Even the snowy owls got in on the fun, piling on top of the mound of laughing children and the form of a well buried Harry deep below the pile. "I love seeing it."

"Me too," Andromeda said with the biggest smile. "And none more deserving than he."

"I can see the Cup in my office now," McGonagall said, dabbing her eyes on a flag. She smiled at the very happy pile of laughing children and hooting owls.

"Gryffindor is back!" Fred shouted.

"A new dynasty," Angelina said with enthusiasm.

-0-0-0-

Hufflepuffzd96 - He trusts her to do the right thing. Whatever the right thing is.

TheSphynx - Hope you enjoy today's chapter with your main comment.

odonnellzoo99 - Always good to get a different perspective from someone you trust and to see multiple sides.

DOOOOOOM Lord of Waffles - And she didn't know. So she's very much caught in the middle and she can only do what she thinks will be the best right now. But that doesn't absolve her from trying. I tried to make a situation where it feels messy and real and how things could possible just be, and it's hard for everyone involved for lots of different reasons.

poka - The reason why will be coming soon and hopefully one people will find plausible.

alix33 - I wanted to try and find an appropriate term for it. Calling it a refrigerator isn't quite right and while it does the same thing, I wanted a bit of the old-fashioned magic feeling to it.

HoneyBear84 - Thank you.